The present invention relates generally to data recording devices and, more particularly, to such a device that is specifically adapted for use with a motor vehicle.
Owners of motor vehicles that are used for business purposes are faced with the problem of making the most economical use of their business vehicles. Many companies and individuals own vehicles which are used strictly for business purposes, while many others own vehicles which are used by the vehicle operators both for business and personal purposes. In either case, where the operator of the vehicle is not also the owner, it is difficult for the owner to supervise the use of the vehicle, both to ensure that it is used for business purposes, as well as to determine whether the operator is making the most efficient and productive use of the vehicle.
This problem, while significant in itself, is compounded by the fact that the operator of the vehicle must be able to distinguish between use of the vehicle for business and for personal purposes. Beginning with 1985 tax years, the U.S. tax laws require the keeping of contemporaneous documentation of business and personal usage of a motor vehicle if the vehicle owner wishes to treat all or part of the cost of operating the vehicle as a business expense. Personal useage of the vehicle is taxable as income to the operator. The keeping of the necessary records represent a significant burden. In part, this is because they must be truly contemporaneous, so that the vehicle operator must always have a pen and notebook or the like on hand, and must always remember to record the vehicle mileage and the purpose of any trip.
What is needed is some device that will aid the vehicle operator in the keeping of such records. Not only will such records be useful for tax purposes, but also in ensuring efficient and productive use of the vehicle. Such a system must be essentially foolproof, in that it must protect against the operator forgetting or deliberately failing to record information. Further, the system must be relatively easy to use, and must produce a clear, concise record of the vehicle usage.